Test of Study Design and Pilot Study for a National Survey of Epilepsy. Phase I. Test Study of Design

摘要

This small-scale test of study design is the first part of a larger enquiry to evaluate methods for possible use in a national survey of epilepsy. The chief aim is to develop and test a case-finding strategy for the sampling of epileptics who take anticonvulsant medications. Of paramount importance is the need to safeguard the privacy of persons included in the study. The case-finding strategy is step-wise, involving pharmacies, physicians, and patients. In this test, ten pharmacies were selected by judgment to assure representation of major pharmacy types; prescriptions for 17 anticonvulsant medications of interest were identified and abstracted for selected time periods; prescriptions were then collated by physician, so that diagnostic information could be collected from physicians for those patients for whom they prescribed anticonvulsant medication; this information was obtained from nine physicians selected to represent a mix of specialties; finally, a patient questionnaire was field-tested.